The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is aware of various correspondences, being circulated via e-mails, from Internet Web sites, and via regular mail or fax, falsely stating that they are issued by or associated with FAO and/or its officials.

These scams, which may seek to extract money and/or in many cases personal details from the recipients of such correspondence, are fraudulent.

FAO assumes no responsibility for any consequences, including but not limited to, financial loss and identity theft or other, that may derive from such scams.

These correspondence and documents, e-mail addresses and Web sites are crafted so that they are made to look like they originate from FAO. For example, they may contain official-looking FAO stationery, including FAO’s logo, emblem or name, or some variation thereof, and e-mail or Web site addresses, including either one or both of the words “Food and Agriculture” or "FAO" or some similar name, or the name of a real FAO entity or fictitious one.

Unauthorized use of the FAO logo, emblem, name, or other names or indicia in these schemes is illegal. The relevant authorities will be informed of any such activities, of which FAO becomes aware, for appropriate action to be taken. Caution should be exercised in relation to any suspicious communication, as financial loss and identity theft could result from the sending of money or personal information to those issuing such fraudulent correspondence.

A sampling of such scams includes:

The North American Workers Recruitment Programme claiming to be placed under the auspices of the World Food Programme and FAO;

The Special Programme for Food Security (SPFS) claiming to be placed under FAO but administratively autonomous and recruiting staff on behalf of FAO;

Offers of employment or vacancy announcements with requests for payment of fees. FAO does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing, training or any other fees). The only legitimate FAO employment Web site is accessible at this URL: http://www.fao.org/employment/current-vacancies/en/. Please visit the FAO Employment Web site for further information.